March 2010 Blog Posts (28)

EMS Today opening keynote speaker A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT-P, carries one of four 30-lb. bags of concrete on stage, a visual reminder of the 120 lbs. he has lost since his gastric bypass surgery this past summer. (Photo Glen Ellman)

Thursday started bright and early with a 0830 welcome to the conference session. There was a group of pipers who came from the NYFD to bring in the colors, and they put on a great show. A few awards were given, and a number of people were recognized for their contributions. The keynote was given by the editor of JEMS, who talked about his experience with gastric bypass, but also focused on stressors and their impact on our jobs.

For anyone that has never heard Eagles member Corey Slovis, MD, FACP, FACEP, -- you’re missing out! New to the JEMS staff, I didn’t quite know what to expect of EMS Today. Thus far, the conference has exceeded my expectations. Slovis is an infamous presenter known for breaking down critical information into five points. Whether he’s addressing causes or treatments for a medical condition, Slovis always finds a way to stay true to his rule of five. That is, unless…Continue

Wednesday was my first day here at EMS Today, in Baltimore, Maryland. So far everything is going smooth, with the exception of parking, but it is a big city, so that is to be expected. The conference is providing free parking, but it is about .5 mile walk from the lot to the conference. It makes me think of the episode from 'The Office' where they complain about the walk from the parking lot to the office.

Registration was very straightforward... and there were not a lot of lines… Continue

The JEMS Games team sequester room is not for the faint of heart. This is where the teams are locked in to wait for their turn. On one side of the room, members of the 2009 winning team, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, are doing pushups. And on the other, crowd favorite FDNY is holding court -- ever-present "Bubba" on oxygen no less. It was after I made my way past such JEMS Games luminaries, however, that I…

All jokes aside, I am Natalie Quebodeaux, or MsParamedic on many many social sites. I am a paramedic from Southwest Louisiana, the Cajun part of the state. No, I don't live in New Orleans, that's Southeast La and is a totally different cultural experience, I assure you. Anyways, I figured that I'd share a little about my life here in the South as a medic.

12, 24, 36, 48...Yes, I know sounds like a football game right? For those of us who work in EMS they represent the shifts we work. Yes, I said shifts not hours per week. In any given week, many of us put in 100 hours or more. We actually get paid for doing a job that we love and that is hard to find these days, however, for some of us those long hours come with consequences. Such as broken relationships and families, risk of burn out and last but not least, addiction.